Garces Trading Company @ Kimmel is an all-day café and market located in Commonwealth Plaza at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA. A destination for breakfast, lunch, or a pre- or post-performance drink, the café’s ambience is enhanced by a Meyer Sound system featuring 10 Ashby 8C ceiling loudspeakers, two custom painted USW-112-XP compact subwoofers, two MPS-488HP Intelligent DC power supplies, and a Galileo GALAXY Network Platform, all provided by DBS Audio Systems, Inc.
This year’s Peach Music Festival was also the first for Coatesville, Pennsylvania-based DBS Audio Systems as the principal audio provider. Company president Dave Brotman was elated with the PANTHER system’s performance at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain for the main Peach Stage.
The new system comprises four ULTRA‑X40 loudspeakers for main front and stage side coverage with a discreet ULTRA‑X20 compact loudspeaker for center fill. Potent bass is supplied by two 900‑LFC low-frequency control elements, with a GALAXY 408 Network Platform dedicated to system drive and optimization. The upgrade also included four new MJF-210 stage monitors. The new system was designed, supplied, and optimized by DBS Audio Systems of Coatesville, Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dave Brotman.
Two decades after it first opened to the public with its original Meyer Sound system, Philadelphia’s premiere concert venue, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, celebrated its reopening with a completely new system incorporating Meyer Sound’s latest technology, including LEOPARD line array and ULTRA-X Series point source loudspeakers.
As drive-in concerts continue to provide an interim solution in the live sound market, bluegrass sensation Billy Strings put on his first shows with a live audience since March 2020. The Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township, PA outdoor parking lot venue was powered by a Meyer Sound LEOPARD® reinforcement system for three consecutive nights of Billy Strings’ “Meet Me at the Drive-In Tour.”
Dave Brotman and Mike Shoulson of Coatesville, PA-based rental company DBS Audio Systems were on hand to provide the audio solutions and support to the Billy Strings production team, including FOH Engineer Andy Lytle.
With more than 25 years in the business and an appetite for innovation and hard work that never seems to ebb, Brotman embraces the challenges and opportunities that come with being a trusted partner for both clients and equipment providers. I sat down with Brotman to gain insight about projects that inspire him, keeping up with a rapidly changing tech landscape, and building a business that lasts in an incredibly challenging industry.
The seventh edition of the LOCKN’ Festival is in the books after four days of music, dance, and love at the Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, VA. Meyer Sound rental partners DBS Audio Systems, Inc., based out of Coatesville, PA, joined the 2019 LOCKN’ Festival for a second year to provide the sound for the Garcia’s Forest and Super VIP stages, both powered by LEO Family loudspeaker solutions and the new point source loudspeaker, the ULTRA-X40.
For several years, The Philadelphia Orchestra has spent their summers in residence at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. This year, Meyer Sound rental partners, DBS Audio Systems Inc. of nearby Coatesville, PA brought in a LEO Family system of LEOPARD compact linear line array loudspeakers to support the season’s various events.
The new Terrain Gardens at Devon yard has quickly emerged as the prime location for upscale weddings, parties and corporate events in the Main Line suburbs west of Philadelphia. The venue’s lush, horticultural setting creates a lavish backdrop for special occasions year-round, with locally-inspired menus, signature cocktails and hand-selected wines complemented by a sonically impeccable, yet virtually invisible Meyer Sound IntelligentDC loudspeaker system.
The U.S. Navy Band hosted three annual holiday concerts at DAR Constitution Hall, drawing more than 8,000 people into the venue on the weekend prior to Christmas, with Internet streaming to countless others around the globe. Coatesville, PA-based DBS Audio Systems, Inc. supplied the P.A., which consisted of 20 Meyer LYON mains paired with 18 Meyer Leopards for outfill. In addition, DBS provided six Minas for front-fill and two 900-LFC subs in cardioid mode. All of this was fed at 96k Hz/24-bit through two Meyer Galileo Callisto 616 AES.
Penn State University notched up the technical capabilities for its performing arts programs with the recent installation of a Meyer Sound LEO Family reinforcement system in Eisenhower Auditorium, the flagship facility of the Center for the Performing Arts on the main campus in State College, Pennsylvania. At a school renowned for its Nittany Lions athletic teams, the new state-of-the-art reinforcement system is appropriately anchored by 24 LYON line array loudspeakers.
Penn State Great Valley graduate school has recently installed a Meyer Sound MINA line array loudspeaker system in its 300-seat Warren V. Musser Auditorium. Twin flown arrays of nine-each MINA loudspeakers seamlessly cover the steeply raked auditorium from front to back with a 500-HP subwoofer hung over each array. One UPJunior VariO loudspeaker supplies monitoring at the speaker's podium, and a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system with one Galileo Callisto 616 array processor controls system drive and optimization.
"Versatility was another key factor in opting for MINA, We needed a PA that could maintain full intelligibility for people listening at knee height while doing yoga, then provide the power and punch at night for rock bands and DJs playing electronica. At first I wasn’t sure a box MINA’s size could handle it all, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised." - Sage Plakosh, Production manager
As the Production Manager of a music venue, my top priority is ensuring that we are delivering the best audience experience that we can. One of the largest and most complex pieces of this puzzle is maintaining an audio system that provides even coverage with a high level of clarity and power. DBS audio has set us up for success by designing and installing a system that is sonically true throughout the room, leaving our engineers with a pristine canvas to mix on.
"There are about 220 tech and business music-industry students. I wanted the best, most durable system—the 'Rolls-Royce' of live sound. DBS proposed Meyer Sound, and after even the most minimal research, I found a high regard for Meyer." - Ryan Schwabe Studio Manager, Flux
"The Meyer system was a major investment, but it was a smart business move," says Sellersville Theater Co-Owner William Quigley. "In the short term we have great sound for our patrons, and over the long run we're building a reputation as a must-play venue for top-tier acts."
A nearly $2 billion enterprise, fashion trendsetter Urban Outfitters is hardly a strait-laced, button-down establishment.
The firm's next-generation corporate ethos shows at their headquarters complex in the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Jazz On the National Mall was the highlight of this summer's Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, the largest annual music event in Washington, DC, with more than 100 performances staged at concert venues and clubs around the city.
Anyone who might think Jamband culture has cooled off in recent times need only have attended the Gathering of the Vibes Festival this past August in Bridgeport, CT
Marking it's 15th year!
After 15 years with them, we have a lot of trust in the Midas name. So when it was time to go digital, the Pro6 was an easy choice.
The Arts United Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. has recently upgraded to a Meyer Sound M’elodie line array loudspeaker system, courtesy of Coatesville, Pa.-based DBS Audio Systems Inc.
The 662-seat auditorium was built in 1973 by the renowned architect Louis Kahn, best known for his stark, brick designs.
“The Center’s open, concrete construction called for a highly focused system that could help us keep reflected energy under control,” says DBS Audio’s Dave Brotman.
Funk Box’s space is small, but completely functional. “It’s a cozy space, really tiny,” said Brotman. “Holds maybe 400 tops. The stage is 18x14 and hard to fit a nine-piece but we do it. The second floor has a wrap around balcony that goes to the upstage edge. You can lean over the drink rail and see behind the band. There are very few places you could get a bad view in the club.” With four Meyer MSL4s flown on either side of the stage and four Meyer USW1P subs, all seats sound equally as good.
But the best seats, said Brotman, aren’t seats at all. “The Funk Box has a tongue and groove, spring-loaded dancefloor that gives about five or six inches. When there are lots of people, it’s like a wave. It really helps your knees.”
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